


Tabula Rasa

by irishlullaby13



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, screw canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 04:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10609182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishlullaby13/pseuds/irishlullaby13
Summary: The end of the Apocalypse has an unexpected outcome.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of those horrifying thoughts that occurred to me while laying in bed at night.

They lay on the ground panting and blinking up at the sky. Just minutes ago the sky had been aflame but now stars dotted the skies. Peace seemed to just wash over the planet. For the first time in ages, they felt… safe.

Abbie was the first to sit up. “We’re alive,” she whispered. “Oh my God. We’re alive. Everyone’s alive.” She turned slightly. “Ichabod?”

A bright grin spread across his lips and he pulled her down atop him, kissing her soundly. Right now, everyone on the planet was sleeping peacefully. A spell. A spell to erase the horrors of the Apocalypse from the minds of everyone. A spell to chase the demons to the back of their minds where they belong, only to emerge in the depths of their nightmares. Come morning they would wake and go about their day as though nothing was wrong or had ever been wrong.

The planet would go on for another 1000 years or so until the cycle began again. New witnesses would take up the mantle of protecting mankind. But for now, the current witnesses were just happy to be alive.

“Let’s go home,” Abbie whispered when she finally got her fill of kissing Ichabod.

“I must first go to the Archives and make certain the events of this evening have been properly cataloged for safe keeping until the next Apocalypse,” Ichabod said regretfully.

“You do that,” Abbie murmured. “I’ll be at home waiting… in that thing you like.”

The look on ichabod’s face said he would much rather bare witness to _that thing he liked_ than typing up the details of their final battle. “An hour at the most, Lieutenant and I shall be removing _that thing_ with nary more than my teeth.”

Abbie nuzzled her nose against his. “That’s what I was hoping for.” They both clamoured to their feet and dusted off their clothes. “I’ll take Aurora home and make sure she’s tucked away in bed.” She straightened the front of Ichabod’s coat. “And when you get home we can talk about… maybe getting her a little brother.”

“I certainly look forward to that conversation,” Ichabod replied, pulling her close and brushing his lips over hers.

With one last kiss, they went to separate vehicles. Abbie looked in the backseat and smiled at the little girl in her “big girl seat.” She gave Abbie a bright eyed smile. “You an’ Daddy beat up monsters?”

“We sure did, Baby,” Abbie said sweetly. Aurora favoured her mother but her voice had a small inflexion similar her father’s. “Now we’re going home and getting in bed.”

“Are d’ monsters gone?” Aurora asked.

“Yep, they’re all gone,” Abbie replied. “There’ll be no more monsters. Ever again.”

Aurora gave a tiny yawn. “I’m _sweepy_ , Mummy.”

Abbie couldn’t help but smile. “Then go to sleep, Baby. And in the morning, Mommy and Daddy will take you to the park.”

Before they were even to the next block, Aurora was sleeping peacefully in her seat. Once home, Abbie carefully lifted her daughter out of the seat and carried her inside, to her room that was filled with princess everything. Aurora immediately huddled under her covers and sighed contentedly. Abbie gave her a light kiss on the temple.

“Sweet dreams, Baby,” she whispered then eased out of the bedroom.

Abbie got a quick shower and tidied up all the things she wanted to be tidied up, pulled on her robe, and walked to the bedroom. She fished a rosy pink bra and thong set from the bottom drawer and set it on the bed while she disposed of boxes of condoms that would no longer be being used then lotioned herself down so she her skin would be nice and soft.

However, almost as soon as she sat on the bed, she leaned over onto her pillow and immediately fell asleep.

Meanwhile, at the Archives, with his fingers on the keys of the laptop, Ichabod had also succumbed to the spells drowsing effects. The soft words that had been whispered earlier that day echoed across the lands.

For two in particular, the events for the past seven years... In fact their entire lives was slowly rewritten in their memories. Abbie recalled getting lost in the woods with her sister at a young age. Her mother dying of cancer. She would recall being so sad when her sister died in a car crash just a year ago, holding Jenny’s lifeless form in her arms, but she wouldn't remember that it was a demon that had flipped the vehicle through the air with them in it.

Having found contentment and home in this modern world, Ichabod Crane would recall meeting Lt. Abbie Mills to help work a special case. He would even recall their celebrating the closing of a case and indulging a bit too liberally in his liquor cabinet at the Archives to celebrate. Followed by finally giving in to all the flirting that had been going on between him and the Lieutenant. 

She would have understood that he needed to go home. But to slip away while she slept… to leave no kind of contact information. Just a little note that read “Of all, I shall miss you the most.” She would remember crying when she saw the tell-a-tale blue lines on the pregnancy test but she would never be able to recall when and why she decided to take on the task of being a single mom. Abbie just knew she wouldn’t trade Aurora Grace Mills for anything. To hell with all the side eyed glances she received. 

In the end, the spell had the desired effect. It took away the memories of the Apocalypse from all of those who remained. Memories were twisted and adjusted to make certain none of the horrors would be recalled. Had Abbie known when she cast the spell, that it would change things as it did for her and her fellow witness, she probably would have just let mankind suffer.

  
#  


Abbie yawned and sat up in bed and looked around bedroom. She blinked at the lingerie set on the bed next to her and wondered why the hell it was even out. Her eyes went to the clock and she swore. It was 9am. She was late for work!

She quickly put herself together and hurried to Aurora’s room to wake her. “Hey baby… it’s time to get up for school.”

Aurora’s bottom lip poked out and she made a soft objecting sound as she burrowed deeper into the covers. “It’s… not school day. It’s an ‘S’ day.” Her tiny pointed at a small digital clock with the time, date, and day of the week on it. Sure enough… _Sunday_. 

Which meant no school for Aurora and no work for Abbie. _Hallelujah_ , Abbie thought with amusement. “Okay. You sleep. Mommy’s going to clean the house.” Aurora was already back to sleep.

Abbie returned to her room, changed out of her work clothes, put on cleaning clothes, secured her hair in a scarf, then bound down stairs to finish the cleaning she had started the day before. She frowned slightly, wondering why so many of the older books were lain out on the sofa and the tables. She could only reason that her dad had taken them out while babysitting Aurora.

Aurora, for some reason, loved being read dusty old books as bedtime stories. Granddad loved indulging her. Abbie had just pulled out the vacuum when she hear Aurora’s tiny voice behind her.

“Mummy.”

Abbie turned to watch her daughter sleepily rub her eyes. She didn’t know how or why but Aurora had a slight British accent. She couldn’t blame the father as Aurora had never met him. “What is it, Baby?”

“Can we go gets a milks an’ go to the park?” 

“Of course we can, Baby.” 

Abbie looked outside. The sky was blue and bright with big fluffy clouds floating lazily in the air. It seemed like the perfect day for Starbucks and a trip to the park.

  
#  


Sometimes he swore he saw her. He’d catch a hint of her scent but then when he turned to follow, the spectre had disappeared into the crowd or, at the very least, from his head. It wasn’t as if Ichabod couldn’t find her with ease if he gathered up the courage to do so. Hell, it had taken three glasses of whiskey to get the courage to tell her he thought her eyes were captivating. A fourth glass to admit he had wondered if her lips were as soft and warm as he imagined them to be.

He had blushed and so had she. “ _Why don’t you find out_?” she had teased. So he did.

Almost five years later and he still sometimes had to stop because he swore he could still taste her lips. And that was what he had awakened to. The smell of her lingering on the air. When he licked his lips he could taste strawberry lip balm.

He had recently returned to the town of Sleepy Hollow. In fact he was still getting settled in, looking for a place to stay. In the meantime, he was hunkering down at the Archives working on a paper to keep his Ph.D in History. A paper he had intended start last night. A paper he had only typed “In the battle of 177777777777777777777777777777///777777777bbbb NNNNnnnoooooo,,,,,’ooooooooooojjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjfffffffffffffff gerp” thus far.

With a sigh he closed out the document and rubbed his face to encourage blood flow. It felt like he had drained an entire bottle before going to sleep but his small collection all rested in the corner on an end table, untouched for some time. His eyes fell to an almost empty bottle of amber liquid and he had to swallow down the memories that cascaded into his consciousness.

Would he be able to find her? Would she welcome his return? Or would things be awkward?

He hadn't thought to give her his telephone number in London before leaving. He didn't use his Merton College email for anything due to massive amounts of _spam_. And he didn't have a personal email.

Surely she thought him to be an eternal bastard for leaving as he did. By time he had reached London, he had convinced himself that his mistake would have cost him any chance to truly be with the lovely Lieutenant Mills.

After nearly five years, surely she had found someone by now. Someone who wouldn't be as stupid as he, and forget to leave a number. She was probably happy and living a beautiful life.

He was a fool to fathom returning to this place in hopes of rekindling a romance with the Lieutenant. It wasn't as though the posting he had taken at the community college had people tearing up the streets to take it. In fact, he was certain he had been the only applicant. 

“ _It usually takes us a year or two to find a new instructor,_ ” the dean had said with a laugh, on the phone.

Perhaps he should just permit fate to lead him where it may. At the moment the need for coffee had fate leading him to Starbucks.

  
#  


“I want a tall vanilla creme for Aurora and a grande salted caramel latte with an extra shot of espresso for myself,” Abbie ordered. Aurora pointed at something in the case. “And six of the vanilla bean scones.”

At home Aurora was quite chatty. However, in public, she tended to stay quiet and hide behind Mommy’s legs. But she also knew, when Mommy had hot coffee in her hand, to walk ahead a few paces to make sure Mommy didn’t accidentally drop her coffee and burn her. And it was this practice that kept her daughter safe when they were exiting the building and a lumbering figure was shoved into Abbie.

  
#  


Ichabod fumbled with the button on his key fob. He sighed with irritation as he remembered the seller had mentioned the battery was dying and would need to be replaced. So, he opened the door, hit the automatic lock, then closed the door after he heard all the locks set. Ordinarily, back home, he would partake in a soothing latte. But today he felt the need for a triple tall cafe americano.

That would definitely give him the boost he needed to get his day started.

Then fate proved herself to be the cruelest mistress of all… There, coming out of the Starbucks was his lovely Lieutenant. His steps faltered and he stopped, transfixed by her bright smile when she thanked a gentleman for holding the door for her. His heart thudded heavily as she walked toward him, his lips tried to form the word “Lieutenant” because that’s what he had always called her.

“Just take up the entire sidewalk, why don’t you, asshole!”

A violent shove sent Ichabod reeling right into the Lieutenant.

  
#  


Abbie shrieked as the other body was knocked right into her. Being smaller in stature and not to mention wearing heeled boots, she immediately grappled at the taller figure, hoping it could steady her. Instead, they both toppled to the ground. The other, at least, had tried to throw his weight so he wouldn’t land atop her. Instead, they hit the ground, Abbie halfway on top of him.

She looked up and saw Aurora hurrying back toward her. When Abbie looked down to make sure the person that had knocked into her was all right, her breath suddenly decided to vacate her lungs. She blinked in shock then shook her head to clear it, convinced she was seeing things.

But no, she was looking into the old familiar face of Ichabod Crane. His blue eyes sparkled affectionately as he smiled. “Lieutenant… we meet again.”

Abbie blinked and quickly scrambled to her feet, shaking her head. “No,” she said quietly. “No… just… no.”

He sat up as Abbie knelt down to Aurora’s level when she tugged on her shirt. Aurora leaned in and whispered, “Is he okay, Mummy?”

“He’s fine, baby,” Abbie said quickly. She looked down her front and then realized she had not gotten coffee all over her. In fact, her coffee cup had miraculously survived the tumble and was sitting right side up on the sidewalk. After retrieving her cup, she looked back at Crane and shook her head when his eyes dropped to Aurora. “Don’t…”

Hurt crossed his features but at that moment she didn’t care. She took Aurora’s hand and quickly made her way back to her car to take her daughter to the park.

  
#  


_A child._

_The Lieutenant had a child._

He watched her walking away, holding the tiny girl's hand. The little girl looked back at him briefly, while Abbie fumbled with her car keys, and smiled. Yes, that was definitely the child of Grace Abigail Mills. He would know those big, dark eyes anywhere, even in a miniaturized form.

_A child_.

Immediately he knew his chances were sunk. She undoubtedly had a handsome and loving husband at home--or the man had best hope he was loving. Ichabod would certainly have words with the gentleman if he were anything less.

But his chance to say anything was quickly loading a squirming toddler into a carseat.

Ichabod stood and made his way over. As soon as she stood to her full height, having secured the child in the seat, he spoke. “Lieutenant…”

Her back straightened and she slowly turned toward him. “What?” she asked coolly. But he could see the play of emotions in her eyes.

Ichabod looked down at his feet then back to her. “I take it many congratulations are in order,” he said softly. When confusion crossed her features, he clarified, “First, upon your marriage. Second, upon becoming a mother.”

Abbie gave a smile that didn't meet her eyes. “Thanks,” she said with a gentle nod. “But I'm not married.”

A stunned “Oh” escaped his lips before he could stop it. Although he could not help but wonder which gentleman he would need to have words with.

“She's four,” Abbie provided. The gears in Ichabod’s head turned. “I tried calling you.” The pieces slowly fell into place. “I tried emailing you. But I only had your US number. And I never heard back from the email.”

It would seem he needed to look into the mirror and lecture himself. 

“Abigail… I can explain…”

She shook her head. “You don't have to.”

“I have taken a teaching post at the community college,” he said quietly. “I wished to stay here... in Sleepy Hollow.”

At this, Abbie looked taken aback. “Oh.” She seemed to fight with herself for a moment then sighed. “If you still want to… explain… We're going to the park. The nice one with the fountain. She likes to feed the ducks.”

She closed the door of the car then went around to get behind the wheel. A few seconds later she was moving down the road.

  
#  


She felt him before she ever saw him. It was strange how time hadn't changed that detail. But she continued to watch Aurora toss lettuce to the ducks and them gobble it up eagerly.

Aurora, ever the smart and inquisitive baby she was, had of course asked questions. _Who was that man, mummy? **That was your Daddy, Baby.** Why didn't you let me say hello? **Because mommy is a chicken, that's why.** Oh. Okay. Is he coming to the park? **Maybe. I don't know.**_.

After a moment of feeling his eyes on her, she glanced back. “We can share a bench, you know.” She turned her attention back to Aurora. 

Ichabod sat beside her silently, Starbucks coffee in hand. She felt a tug at the corner of her lips. “You know, you can just get a grande americano and have about the same effect without paying for the extra shot of espresso,” she teased lightly.

He chuckled quietly and softly retorted, “You don't know my life, Lieutenant.” He was silent for a moment as they both recalled how she used to tease him over his coffee choices. “I’ve missed you. I may have returned to London but I evidently left my heart here in Sleepy Hollow.”

“You could have called,” Abbie said scathingly. “Hell, you could have sent me a letter in the mail. Anything.”

“And for that I must apologize,” Ichabod whispered. “There is no excuse for my not staying in touch.”

“Why didn't you ever respond to my emails?” Abbie asked. “In the third one I flat out said ‘Ichabod call me. I'm pregnant.’”

Ichabod’s face flushed. “I only access that account, once a week, to empty out all of the spam that's accumulated.”

Abbie snorted at the thought of her emails lost in the sea of male enhancement and phishing scams. She nodded. “Okay.” 

He looked toward her. “Okay?”

She finally met his eyes. “You can have a second chance. Especially if you're planning to stay. But don't you dare hurt Aurora.”

_Aurora_. “That is a beautiful name.”

“Aurora Grace,” Abbie called and the little girl beamed. “I remember you saying if you ever had a daughter, you wanted to name her Aurora.”

Aurora bounced over to Abbie happily and flopped over Abbie’s lap, hiding her face against her mother's legs. “Aurora,” Abbie said softly, pulling the child into her lap. Aurora tucked her face into Abbie’s neck. “This is Ichabod Crane. He's your Daddy. Did you want to say ‘hi’?”

She lifted her head and gave a soft, shy, “Hi.”

Abbie felt her heart clench when Ichabod shifted in the bench enough to lower his head to Aurora’s level. “Hello, Aurora. It is a pleasure and an honour to meet you.”

He held out his hand as Aurora sat up grinning. “You talks funny like me,” she said quietly, and took his hand.

Ichabod chuckled. “So it would seem.” He gave the back of Aurora’s hand a kiss, which made her giggle and huddle against Abbie.

“Do you want to feed ducks with him Aurora?” Abbie asked softly and Aurora nodded. 

As she watched Ichabod escort Aurora back to the ducks, she felt a sense of deja vu. Like she had watched them do this a hundred times before, like it was their normal Sunday morning ritual.

Get coffees, go to the park and feed the ducks. Abbie snapped a quick picture of the two and sent it to her dad with the message, _Look who came back to Sleepy Hollow_.

A few minutes later her phone rang. “Hey Dad,” Abbie greeted.

“Do you need me to come kick his ass?” Ezra asked.

Abbie laughed. “No, Daddy, he's actually planning to stay in Sleepy Hollow so… who knows what might happen.”

“Just making sure,” Ezra intoned. “I'll be cleaning the Old Man anyway. Just in case.”

Abbie shook her head. The “old man” was her dad's hunting rifle. She grinned as Ichabod showed Aurora how to get the ducks to eat out of his hand. “You won't need it Dad.”

“Just in case, Abigail,” Ezra chuckled. “You may be grown but you're still my baby girl. All I have is you and Aurora. I already lost your mother and Jenny. I will do whatever it takes to protect you and my granddaughter.”

“Love you, Dad,” Abbie said quietly.

  
#  


After feeding ducks for nearly an hour, Ichabod was prepared for the possibility that Abbie would send him on his way. That she would get his number and promise to call when she had time. To be fair it would have been more than he deserved.

However, the invitation to leave his vehicle at the Archives and join her and Aurora for lunch was hardly something he would pass up. 

“Daddy…” Aurora chimed and if made Ichabod’s heart soar to hear it and to watch the grin that spread across Abbie’s lips. “Do you like _pasta_?”

He glanced at Abbie then turned in his seat enough to peer at Aurora. She blinked at him, her cheek resting on her fist as she awaited his answer. “I adore pasta. Especially the little…” he gestured with his hands trying to figure out how to describe a tortellini so she would understand.

“Th’ tort-tell-lemmes?” she squeaked. When he nodded she sighed, “Those are my favouritest.”

“She's a smart kid,” Abbie pointed out. “Don't think you have to dumb things down for her. If she doesn't know what you mean, she'll let you know.” Then flatly she added, “Trust me. She will let you know and make you feel dumb for not realizing she didn't know.”

Ichabod couldn't help but wonder if Aurora had been gifted with an eidetic memory as well.

“Daddy…” Aurora brushed her hand over her eyes and then tugged at her ear. “Do you likes reading bedtime stories?”

For a moment Ichabod imagined he had spent the last four years telling this precious child bedtime stories every night when she was put abed then giving her forehead a kiss before going to join Abbie for a late night game of chess. “I do not believe I have had the pleasure of telling bedtime stories but, I do think I would quite like it.”

“I take it you want pasta today, Aurora?” Abbie asked.

“No… I wants some sushis.” She looked at Ichabod pointedly. “I likes sushis. Do you likes sushis, Daddy?”

“There's a new place in town called Sushi’s,” Abbie provided. “It opened last year. She loves their little lunch bowls.”

A few minutes later, they pulled in at a Japanese steakhouse with a big colourful sign that proclaimed “Sushi’s!!” in bright pink letters. As soon as they were parked, Ichabod hurried out and around to the driver's side to open Abbie’s door and offer a hand to help her out.

She blinked at his hand then shook her head to clear it before taking his hand. “You didn't have to do that,” she said quietly. 

“I know,” Ichabod replied affectionately. He pulled open the door to the back seat. Much to his surprise, Aurora had already freed herself from her seat and leapt out as soon as the door was open.

“Sushi’s!” she chimed happily and scampered ahead to the door.

Ichabod gazed down at Abbie. “If it would not be too much of an insult, I would like to be the one to pay.”

Abbie sucked in a breath. “Okay.” She looked away for a moment and bit her bottom lip. “And… if you're comfortable with it… this can… maybe… be a… date?”

“I am very comfortable with that, Abigail.”

“Just a warning though,” Abbie said. “I don't kiss on the first date.” With a tiny hair flip, she followed after _their_ daughter into the restaurant.

  
#  


Abbie had forgotten just exactly how charming Ichabod could be without really trying. The adoring way he watched Aurora stab her teriyaki chicken with chopsticks just really made her feel all kinds of things. That and she swore every time Aurora gave the small, curious _Dah-deeee_ to ask him a question, his grin just grew wider. At one point she swore he was going to burst into tears from being so happy.

 _Look, Dah-deeeee, I can eats with shopsticks. It’s easy_ and she proceeded to jab into her bowl, stick in either fist until she speared a piece of chicken. _Dah-deeee, what’s so funnies?_ and Ichabod looked taken aback when she gave him a 100% Ichabod Crane scowl. Which had made Abbie start laughing. _Mum-meeee… what’s so funnies? Whys are youses laughing?_

But that was nowhere near as comical as watching her try to eat the rice in the bottom of her bowl with a spoon bigger than her tiny mouth could handle. “Mummy…” Aurora pipped, her mouth full of fried rice. “Is Daddy coming home with us?”

Abbie felt her face warm and she sputtered for a moment before responding, “If he… wants to… But I’m sure… he…” She felt Ichabod rest his hand over hers on her thigh and he squeezed gently.

“I would love to.”

Aurora cocked her head. “Will you stay? Or do you live at an other house?”

“Baby, could you please stop asking questions that have complicated answers?” Abbie asked softly.

“What’s _comblisated_?” Aurora asked, pursing her lips.

“Well… it means, we’re not really sure what the answer to the question is because we don’t have enough information to get an answer,” Abbie said carefully. “Or it's a question we really don't want to answer when other people are around.”

Aurora pursed her lips as she mulled over what her mother had said. Finally she nodded, “Okay.”

Abbie wanted to tell Ichabod that the odds were favourable that Aurora would fall asleep on the way home. That it would literally just be the two of them until she decided to wake up about two hours later. But stray thoughts made Abbie think that, maybe, they could find plenty to talk about or do for that time.

Such as finding out what the other had been up to for the last four and then some years. 

Sure enough, they were barely half a block before Aurora’s soft snoring could be heard in the back seat. Abbie tried not to feel giddy about Ichabod entwining his fingers with hers as she drove. She definitely tried not to be affected by the way his thumb drew lazy circles on the side of her hand. 

Apparently certain parts of her body were suddenly incapable of understanding simple commands. And when she watched him carefully lay Aurora in her frilly pink bed, like he had done it a thousand times before, Abbie couldn't help but realize…

She still loved him. All the uncomfortable dates she had over the last few years, every gentle refusal of other dates, every time she had used Aurora as an excuse as to why she didn't want to date… it was really because she was still in love with Ichabod.

If one were to listen incredibly closely at that moment they would have heard the soft whisper of magic realizing it had done something dreadfully wrong. Normal human beings were easy. They had simple lives and simple thoughts which were simple to change. But Abigail Mills and Ichabod Crane were not normal human beings.

So how could magic altar the minds of the two people who their entire existence was based upon the Apocalypse? How could it make the last seven odd years seem like little more than a bad dream without also changing who they were and what they had learned from their experience as Witnesses?

Abbie sucked in a breath as Ichabod carefully crept from Aurora’s room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He opened his mouth to speak. It she carefully rested a finger over his lips.

“I love you,” she admitted quietly.

“And I you.”

The very moment their lips met in that all-consuming kiss, the magic went to work. Because if ever anyone in the history of mankind deserved to have the last seven years be predominantly good memories, it was certainly the Witnesses. 

Ichabod Crane would recall getting mugged the day he first arrived in Sleepy Hollow and inadvertently getting caught up in the gruesome murder investigation of who murdered the sheriff. He would remember falling into a comfortable partnership with the lovely Lieutenant and convincing both Merton College and the new sheriff that he needed to stay on to ‘help.’

The fact that the Lieutenant was incredibly beautiful and he got completely lost in her smile had played absolutely no part in his petition. 

Abbie would recall being the only person to calm an extremely terrified man that had not only been mugged but drugged with hallucinogens by the arresting officer. She would remember believing his story, as crazy as it seemed, and freeing him from being the one to go down for Sheriff Corbin’s death. 

She would remember feeling a bit sad when the case was solved and she knew he would be returning to London. Then being thrilled to find out Sheriff Irving had decided to give her a new outside consultant… and that consultant turned out to be her insane mugging victim.

They would both remember a friendship developing into something more over time and it coming to a head after a particularly emotionally draining case had finally been solved. Abbie would remember, after a couple of drinks at the Archives, teasing Ichabod about never showing her his moves on the dance floor. Ichabod would remember finally giving in and taking her on the dance and holding her close. 

Sometime during _Love on the Brain_ , played over Abbie’s phone, he had dared to finally take the chance and kiss her and their romance spiralled from there. Nothing too terribly different from the way it had originally happened, except monsters, gods, and demons were replaced with murderers and other shady sorts.

Most of all, the magic fixed where they had thought he had been gone for most of Aurora’s life. Instead, just as he had originally done, Ichabod had been there. He had been at Abbie’s side, he had told their daughter stories of revolutionary America which put her right to sleep.

When the kiss ended, Abbie trailed her fingers along the neckline of Ichabod’s shirt and grinned up at him wickedly. “You didn’t come home last night,” she said softly. “And I distinctly recall we were going to work on a second baby.” Though neither could really figure out why they had been putting it off for so long…

Ichabod rested his forehead against Abbie’s and Abbie felt an immediate swell of emotion for her lover… husband… partner… friend... father of her daughter and any other children she might have in the future.

“Oh, well… you know how it is with research,” he murmured. “It’s incredibly boring and I fell asleep. However… Aurora is down for her nap. It is Sunday. And neither of us have any pressing matters to attend to.”

Abbie laughed as Ichabod swept her into his arms and carried her away toward their bedroom to make up for not making it home the night before.

Details of the final battle between the Witnesses and the forces of evil would not be chronicled for the Apocalypse that would take place again in the distant future--the spell made certain of that. The future witnesses would wonder what happened in that final battle and what had become of their predecessors. They would wonder if they had died to save the world. Never once would they imagine that Grace Abigail Mills and Ichabod Crane, in fact, lived happily ever after.


End file.
